Dragons
by Ngoc Chau
Summary: An oc story, don't read this, I'm going to redo this when Exams are over.
1. Long and the Magic Man in Black

**Ngoc Chau does not own Harry Potter.**

**Okay, this is my 3rd time launching this fanfic. **

**Although some of you may not like it, I do.  
I really want to write it because I've been dreaming about this fanfic all the time. **

**PLEASE READ IT TILL THE END.  
I WORKED REALLY HARD ON IT!  
NICE PEOPLE WOULD READ THIS ONCE AT LEAST TILL THE END OF THE CHAPTERS.**

**For those who like FLUFF, HUMOUR, INTENSE ROMANCE, DRACO MALFOY, and REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE, this should be a fanfic that you like.**

_**To those who know about Hogwarts Extreme, an RPG, can you tell me anything about it?**_

_'Thoughts'_

"Vietnamese"

"English"

_"Spells"_

* * *

Long Nguyen was an 11 year old asian girl.

She had long black hair and wide eyes on a heart-shaped face.

She was wearing a white blouse with a red neck scarf and black slacks. She wore dark brown sneakers.  
A black packpack rested on her shoulders.  
She had her long raven hair tied in a braid with a large pink bow tied at the base of the braid, a few strands left loose.

She walked home to the small apartment she lived with her mother, father, and sister.

It was a regular day like any other day.

**Wake up early.  
Make lunch.  
Go to english school (She takes classes in the summer).**

**Work part time for the store owner for a little extra money when school ends.  
Pick up little sister who was staying with aunt until Long came home.  
Buy some fish and bean sprouts.**

**Come home to boil fish and stir fry bean sprouts.  
Put money that is left over from buying food away.  
Welcome mother and father home.**

**Have dinner.  
Do homework till done.  
And all over again.**

But as soon as she came home with her sister and touched the knob, something didn't feel right. She stepped into the apartment room and saw someone in a long robe, alomost resembling her country's dress, she couldn't tell. The robe was too black to see any specific details.  
She ran in and went straight to the kitchen, "Stay there Huyen!" she cried in her language to her sister who was outside the door.

She grabbed a sword that she had inherited from a family member and drew it out. She threw the sheathe back into the kitchen and held the sword with both hands up high.  
The person there didn't seem to be Vietnamese, so she used the english that she learned in school and yelled out with a noticable chinese accent,  
"What you doing here?!

The person stayed motionless. She took this chance to carefully look at the person, just in case she had to give a witness report of them after.

It was a woman, no a man.  
It was hard to tell because of the pitch black robe that hid most details and the hair that reached to just above his shoulders.  
It looked greasy too.

He had wrinkles on his face which had a sharp nose in the center of it.  
He was tall and thin, almost pathetic looking.

She looked to the door quickly and yelled out in her language, "Go run to where mom is!"  
Her little sister scrambled out of the area as fast as her legs could carry her.

The man looked slightly confused then he asked in a scary voice, "Are you Long Nguyen?"  
Long faltered a bit and lowered the sword. She asked once more in fractured english, "Please, you say slower?"

He took a deep breath and asked again,

"Are...You...Long...Nguyen?"

Long nodded and asked, "Yes, why you want to know?"  
He walked closer to her, but she raised the sword like a bat again.

He took out a something from his sleeve and said, "_Expelliarmus." _

The sword flew back and it clanged as it fell on the tile floor.  
She froze a bit then he just glided over to her.

She went into a martial arts pose that she learned in her gym classes. She struck her hand out and a force moved. Everything in her direction flew back and landed on the floor. The man stood with one leg in front of the other and resisted against it.  
She looked shocked.  
She raised her leg and kicked. Her black slacks whipped as a second force went again.

He resisted it.

He flicked his...his wand?  
He flicked the wand again and said, "_Incarcerous." _

From the wand, a long snake of thick rope flew out and strung itself around Long, knocking her back onto the sofa that was against the wall.  
She tried to thrash.  
With every sharp movement she did, a force blew around, knocking everything.

Finally, the end of the rope tied itself around her ankles and arms and went over her mouth so that she couldn't scream or yell.  
She was tied up and shocked.

This man was...magical.

The man came closer and Long clenched her eyes in fear for what would happen next.

"Open up your eyes."

He spoke clearly for her to understand and she did what he told.  
There was something like a fullness to his sound, but a hollowness.

He was kneeling in front of her, carrying a letter.  
It looked like it was made of old thick parchment and the shiny green ink really stood out on it.  
There was no stamp, but who it was addressed to and how was...different.

She looked at the letter. On the yellow parchment in it's dark green ink glistening over it's rough surface read:

* * *

Ms L. Nguyen  
Tied in ropes on the sofa  
Apartment 15 on the 4 floor  
Corner of Thanh Xuan  
Hanoi  
Vietnam

* * *

Very detailed down to the exact spot.

"Hhm?" she asked.

He sat next to her on the sofa and asked, "If I untie you, will you promise to not run away, stay quiet, and read this letter?"

She shifted her eyes, then nodded, shaking her head up and down. But it looked like she was trying to get the rope out of her mouth.  
He put the letter on her lap and started to untie the ropes around her.  
The rope slipped from out of her mouth.

She took a deep breath,

"AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!" She screamed, the letter dropped onto the floor, the man quickly put his hand over her mouth.

She started moving violently. The ropes became looser and she tried to run up.  
But the man put her in a hold from behind, with his hand still over her mouth, he said menacingly, "You've already broken 2 of your promises, the least you can do is read the blasted letter."

Suddenly a set of voices started screaming from the doorway.

Long looked to the right of her and saw that her family was there. All sweaty, they must've ran home.

The man turned back quickly and pointed his wand at them, "_Levicorpus" _

Simutamiously, the 3 bodies rose upside down.  
Then the man spun back at Long and fired another spell at her, "_Stupefy" _

Long fell back unconcious.

The man went over to the little crying Huyen and performed the same spell on her.  
He went to both parents and asked calmly, "Hello, are you Mr and Mrs Nguyen?"

The 2 parents spoke quickly in their tongue which sounded like gibberish being repeated over and over.  
The man concluded that they couldn't speak englsih. He felt he had no choice but to bring the screaming girl out of her state and have her translate.

He went over to her and picked up the letter that fell onto the ground and sat next to Long.

With one hand, he held bother her wrists.  
With the other hand, he put his wand against her forehead, then a bright red light appeared, "_Rennervate". _

Long woke up and begged in english, "Please, don't kill my family. We are very poor. We have nothing!"

He seethed through his teeth, "Read the letter and I'll leave."

She sniffled a bit and looked at the letter.  
He let go of her hands and sat with his wand at the ready.

She turned the letter over and peeled the wax seal away, still having the burgendy circle in one piece.

She pulled out the letter and read it out loud, so in case she spoke it wrong, he could possibly correct her.  
She had some trouble reading it because she saw at first glance it was written in flowery caligraphy.

* * *

"HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms Nguyen  
We are pleased to tell you that you have a place at Hogwarts  
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all  
neccessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no  
later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress"

* * *

Long's englsih speaking was adequate enough, but luckily her reading was better even than the teachers.  
Still that didn't _mean_ she could understand it that well.  
She looked over the paper again and understood it, then put it on the ground next to her feet.

She sat up a bit from the chair and said outloud to her dangling parents. Her sister was also just about coming out of her state of unconciousness.  
She pointed at the first line of the letter and asked the man,  
"Is this real? Am I a witch?"

The man cleared his throat and replied dully, "Yes, that would be so."

"Who are you. Why you here?"

"I am the potions teacher, Severus Snape, at Hogwarts. I am here to take you to get supplies to for the school year."

Suddenly Long's mother started speaking loudly that sounded like bickering.  
Long bickered right back.  
When it sounded like they were done arguing, Long turned to Snape and asked, "Is this real school?"

"As real as ever."

"...How much it cost?"

"..."

That last phrase Long said sounded as though she was ready to haggle for a price and it was said with an expected high tone that comediens used at shows. Snape coughed to clear his throat, this would take a lot of explaining.  
But before a word could leave his mouth, Long raised her hand up and asked, "Please let my family down?"

Snape looked at the now dizzy people with red faces and pointed his wand at them again, "_Liberacorpus" _

They were slowly lowered down on their backs. He went back to try and explain everything. Foreign muggle-borns never really understood it well enough and even if they did, they didn't believe in it.  
He cleared his throat again, "Hogwarts is a renowned school for Witches and Wizards-"

Long had raised her hand again to ask another question, "Am I witch?"

"Yes, that is why I am here to take you to the school."

"But I no have powers."

"...Then what did you call it when you tried to defend against me?"

"I thought it because I can control with my mind."

"No you can't. Not in this situation. You have magical powers because you are a witch. Understand that."

"...How much school for magic cost?"

He was getting angry about the price question now, "It costs more than you earn a year."

"I don't think my mother and father let me go. We no have lots of money. Only enough for food and bills."

"Not to worry, the school will aid you financially."

"Must I go?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"There are wizards in the world who will take advantage of you and you need to learn how to control your powers. Some wizards and witches get hurt when their powers get out of hand. That is what Hogwarts is for, to teach and to help you."

"Where is it? How long will I stay at school for?"

"It is somewhere in Scotland and it's as long as any other school year."

Suddenly Long's mother started crying and bawling.  
Long walked off the sofa and asked her mother worriedly, "What is the matter?"

She spoke in her tongue and it sounded very happy but sad.  
Long spoke back, she sounded surprised but not that much.

She stood back up and told Snape, "My mother told me that she thought this would happen. Her grandmother was a witch, she used to tell my mother all these stories about a school for people just like her."

She turned down at her mother who was getting up, this time Long spoke in english, so she must've been trying to make Snape laugh,  
"Mother, why didn't you tell me that great grandmother was a witch?"

Her mother spoke back, Snape couldn't understand but he took a guess that she said, "What are you saying? I can't understand you!"  
Long spoke in her tongue again and then translated to Snape,  
"My mother says she doesn't want me to be a witch.  
Is unholy.  
Demon work."

Snape got up from the sofa and held out his hand to Long's mother, she took a suspicious look at him then understood what he meant by it.  
She shook his hand and laughed.

She looked at Long and joked in Vietnamese, "Wow, he looks really scary. Just like a monster. And his hair looks really dirty, I can almost see dandruff all over his clothes. Black is a bad colour on him with hair problem."

Long started laughing as well. Her father and sister started getting up and sitting cross-legged on the floor.  
Snape let go of her mother's hand, "What did she say?"

"Nothing, teacher. Just that she never saw wizard up close like this."

Her father asked suddenly, "What just happened? Who is that man?" 

"He is a wizard." 

"No, that can't be!" 

"It's true, so was great grandmother!" 

"I knew she was a witch, how else could that explain how much she hated me." 

"And, I'm a witch too!" 

"Big sister Long!! How come you get to a witch? I want to be a witch!"

Snape felt so out of place there.  
This was going to be the last time he handled foreign magic folk. He fell back down on the sofa and ran a hand through his greasy hair.  
Long's mother had walked into the kitchen.

"Teacher, my sister want to know if she is witch too." Long asked.

Snape took a look at the little girl who was trying to make herself look cute and stared blankly.

"Don't let her change answer. She just trying to look cute."

Snape looked up and asked, "How old is she?"

"She 10 years old."

Snape rubbed his chin and confirmed, "If a letter comes for her next year, she's a witch."

Then, Long's mother came out of the kitchen with a tray of tea, the coral white pot in the center, with 5 steaming cups surrounding it.  
Long held out her arms to hold the tea and she passed it to her family, excluding herself first, then Snape.  
"Tea, teacher?"

"Thank you."

Snape took the last cup and looked inside.  
It was green against the pale interieur and there were still herbs in it.

He took one sip, but found it too bitter. He was surprised to see even a little girl enjoy a cup that was almost like black coffee.  
Long set the tray on the ground in front of her family who was sitting around in a sort of semi-circle.  
She grabbed the last cup and drank most of it.

Suddenly Long remembered from the previous school year, they studied caucasians for social studies.  
She remembered that they usually drank their tea with sugar, milk, and/or honey. She sat down next to Snape and asked,  
"Do you want sugar for tea, teacher?"

Snape nodded. Long set her tea down on the floor next to her letter and walked to the kitchen. Snape looked down at the 3 asians who were staring at him so intently.  
He felt like a freak show. "What are you staring at?" he asked in a scary voice.

They may not have understood what he said, but they certainly knew what his tone meant.  
They looked away and just stared at something else. Huyen, the little sister, was smart. She went out of the room to get a book to preocupy herself.

In no time, Long came back out with a bowl of uneven sugar clumps and offered,  
"How many you want, teacher?"  
The clumps were large, so he asked for a small one.

She picked up a medium sized one and squeezed half of it, pouring the crushed half into his tea.  
He spun his tea by motion a bit then took another sip.

He sighed again and continued his explaination of Hogwarts,  
"At Hogwarts, you will learn spells to make crops flourish and potions to turn metal into gold. Bottle fame and brew glory. Everything you learn in Hogwarts will prepare you for the future. Also, you will still learn the subjects that you do in the Muggle schools here."

Long snapped suddenly, "Muggle?"

Snape took another sip, "A muggle is someone who isn't like us. Not a witch or a wizard. Almost a squib."  
He held the tea cup with one hand and raised his his hand to Long before she could ask, "Don't even ask what a squib is, you'll learn about blood purity at Hogwarts."

Long sat up a bit from her seat and called out to her mother, who was looking beyond bored and almost falling asleep. She repeated what Snape told her, including the price arrangment Snape told her earlier, then her mother asked, _"_How far is it?" 

"Scotland." 

"Are you serious? That's too far!"

Snape sat back watching the show that was in front of him.  
There was the 2 characters arguing and a little girl who was reading a book on the side. While the no-idea father just sat there watching as well cluelessly.

Long argued with her mother, "Mother, don't you remember all those times that I could move things, even though I wasn't touching them. Everybody was so scared and they all scolded me! This is my chance to be around people who have the same powers." 

Her mother yelled, "You are just a simple country girl. You won't be able to survive out there! What if they laugh at you?!"

Long stood up from her seat, "I've always felt so different here! I want to be with new people, I want to see everything! I want to go to Hogwarts!"

Her mother started crying, why couldn't her daughter understand, "Long, I need you here to help me take care of the family!"

Long asked Snape seriously, "Teacher, would I be able to get a job at Hogwarts and support my family?"  
Snape faltered for a moment and answered, "You possibly could, the headmaster cares very much for his students. He would give you a job around the school if and when you ask for one."

Long spoke back to her mother, translating again what Snape told her.

Her mother asked, "Is this what you really want?"

Long nodded.

Her mother added on, "If you choose to go to this school, you have to stick through it. You can't quit."

Long bowed in her mother's direction. "I will stay with this school, no matter what."

Long's father looked sharply at his wife then his daughter. "So, Long is going to the magic school?" he asked in a funny comedic voice.

Long sat down on the sofa and picked up the letter.  
She pointed at it and said to him, "My mother say I can go to school." She opened it again and pulled out the letter of notice,  
"What it mean when it ask for owl?"

Snape took another short sip of his tea, god he really shouldn't have tea with so much sugar, but it was something that he needed to quench his thirst.  
"You don't have an owl, so I'll just send the letter myself right away."

He got up and walked to the still open door, putting the tea cup on the floor, all eyes on him as it followed him. Long followed him to the door and asked,  
"Where are you go, teacher?"

Snape went out into the outdoor hall and picked something up that looked like a crooked broom, "I need to go and make some arrangments for your letter to confirm your spot on the student list and to pick up some money to buy your supplies tomorrow."

He started climbing the yellow stone stairs.  
Long walked out of her home, her family chased after the 2. "Teacher, downstairs is that way."  
She pointed in the opposite direction he was going in.

He replied, not looking back and still walking up the stairs, "I know, but I am going to leave on my broomstick. Also, in the future Ms Nguyen, you do not call your teachers 'teacher'. They are called 'professeurs'."

Long nodded and asked Snape again, "Professeur, you are going fly, no?"

"Yes I am going to fly."

They stopped on the top floor.

Snape straddled the broom, his long robe all wrinkled in and scrunched in a weird fashion. He lifted the tip of the broom up a bit, then seemed to jump off a little inch from the ground.  
Everybody was expecting him to land back down from his little jump, but no, his feet were afloat up in the air.

Long's father said out loud in Vietnamese since he knew that Snape wouldn't understand,  
"Wow, that must hurt his cock a lot."

Long hit her dad with a soft slap on his belly, "Dad, be quiet. That's rude."

She turned her gaze back to Snape and watched him lean forward on his broom. Slowly, he floated out over the thin railing and levitated 7 floors up in the air!  
He turned his broom back and faced the shocked family, "I am going to pick up Long at 8 in the morning. I will take her to Daigon Alley to get her school supplies and bring her back at soon as possible."

He looked up and his broom soared up as quick as a dragonfly. Long ran to the edge of the railing and looked as Snape zoomed over the buildings.  
She could barely tell that it was a person on a broom. He was so fast!

Her mother asked from a distance, "What did he tell you?"

Long was still looking out, trying to keep a her eyes on the little speeding dot that was getting smaller on the horizon.  
"He told me that he'll be taking me to go get school supplies tomorrow morning at 8."

Her father blinked his eyes once...twice.. then spoke out again, "This can't be real. I must be drunk or dreaming."

Long still had her head away from the 3 people's view, "Dad, you're not dreaming."

"Okay, then."

Huyen hit her dad on the belly and pointed out, "Dad! You asked if you were drunk or dreaming. She said that you weren't dreaming, so that means that you're drunk!" 

Long's mom didn't want to get involved, so she rushed downstairs to get dinner ready.

Long's dad whined, "Long, you don't mean that, do you?"

"..."  
Long walked downstairs with her head down but with a smile on her face. Her dad and sister were left on the top floor as Long made her way down the stairs.

"Long, why don't you answer me?!"

* * *

**Okay, that was the first chapter.  
Congrats on those who read this far.**

**_Please review and critique.  
Correct me if you see any mistakes._**

**You should know that since this is a sort of OC fanfic, some of the events and speech will differ, but not very much. I have the book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" to help me should I forget anything. **

**The story line should follow the book, but if it doesn't exactly match the book, it means that I used the video as reference. I am basically a perfectionist and I follow through. **

**I hope this fanfic ends up better than the last one...or 2. **

**Anyway, that was just something to tell you. **

**To make one thing clear, should any Viet kid read this, some locations are made up and are not real.  
This universe is kinda AU, like it's similar to this world, but different at the same time.**


	2. Diagon Alley and Draco Malfoy

**Ngoc Chau does not own Harry Potter**

**Okay, this is the second chapter already. **

**This is where Long meets Draco and I hope you'll have a laugh in this chapter at how Long reacts to boys. **

**Also, to let you know, Long is pronounced as 'Lum'.  
Long rhymes with gum, or hum, or numb, or dumb.  
But never call her that, because she gets really angry and she's not the type of person you'd like to get angry. **

**Yeah... on with the fanfic, thanks to those who are going to read this chapter. **

**You are too nice to believe.**

* * *

Long had went to bed last night because she had to study some words in english.

She was going to go to an english school, and face it, her english made her sound retarded.  
She never liked it when someone laughed at how she spoke, which was why her reading was better than her speaking.

Even though she went to bed very late, she still woke up before anyone else did at 5:30 am.

She cleaned up a bit, making lunches for herself, her father, mother, and sister. When she finished it, she put the clumps of sticky rice wrapped in dark green, strong smelling leaves in a steam pot.  
So when she gave it to her family, they could leave with it warm to work.

She grabbed a few books that she got from her teacher as a prize for getting the most gold stars on homework.  
They were all thin books.  
The books were divided in 2, the first half was in English with some definitions of words that someone might not understand. While the second half was in pure Vietnamese.

The books were of fairytales, adventure, history, and whatnot. She had a total of 15, the most out of everybody in class.  
Her favorites to read were horror and comedy.  
She was able to read fluently like how she did for the letter, but for a better comprehension, she would read the Vietnamese side after.

This time, she pushed herself to read the english side and know what it meant at the same time.

When the clock showed it was 7:30 and the roosters crowed, she decided to change out of her over-sized PJs and freshen herself up.

She crept to the bathroom past the sleeping forms of her parents on the ground.  
They didn't have beds, so they would roll out a padded sheet and sleep on the ground.

She brushed her teeth then went to her closet and picked out something that was a little special but still looked somewhat casual.

It was an **ao dai** that she had made during one of her odd jobs.

The shop owner couldn't pay her very much, but along with the small amount of money, she gave Long some fabric and accesss to the sewing equipment.

The **ao dai** ( you can look at it on google image search) was a low tone red.  
It had a high chinese collar that made her neck look longer than it was, with a rim of white.

The opening of the dress was different, it went across her chest at a descending angle just below her left arm socket instead of just straight down with a zipper or buttons.  
It was very complicated to put on, but was well worth its results.

The dress had a wide opening for arms and the sleeves were adorable red puffs for easy access to movement. She wore a close body shirt under with white sleeves that stopped at her elbows.

The dress reached to her shins and was split from both hips, the lining all around the end like someone painted all around with a thin brush was white as well. Underneathe the dress, she wore tight white pants that ended at her knees.

She tied her hair in a braid like yesterday, but this time the bow was red that looked like a narrow ribbon an inch thick.  
(Wow, that was a big description for the outfit, it's just that I drew a dress like this because I'm in my fashion phase right now and I really wanted you to 'see' it)

After she posed a few times in front of the only bust mirror, she went out to see what else she should've gotten ready.  
She saw that her family was rolling up the sheets and putting it away in a tall closet. Her family yawned and all said their good mornings.  
She waved to them and went on to get ready when Snape came to pick her up.

Long quickly grabbed 2 of her english books and put it in a midnight black napsack that she prepared last night.

It was her regular bag from school that she had emptied with a tough hard plastic straps.

Just in case, she packed some dry cookies that her mom had bought in bulk for such situations and water she had gotten from a well held in a plastic bottle.  
Then she got the idea to put in her thin sketchbook. Long had never heard of Dragon...no, Diagon Alley and she thought it would be a long trip to their. So she stuffed the sketchbook in case she would be bored getting there.

She put the items in her bag, then remembered she had to get the letter, just in case it had any information she had missed.

She crawled on all fours to get the letter that she had left under the sofa yesterday. She picked it up and pulled out the letter, this time, she felt there was more than the one letter folded into 3.

She pulled out whatever else was in there and saw it was a long list. She read it slowly quietly to herself on the sofa,

* * *

"HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform  
First year students will require:  
1. 3 sets of plain black robes (black)  
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)  
Please not that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

Set books  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:  
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk  
A History of Magic..."

* * *

She scanned down, she didn't feel like looking at all the book list, or the list under other equipment.  
Most of the words there, she could read, but had no idea what it was.

Then beneathe that list, one word caught her eye.  
The word was her favorite and it was 'cat'.

She read the line happily in english first, "Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad."

She stood up with the letter still in her hands.

Long looked to her mother who was walking out with a toothbrush still in her mouth.  
Her mother pointed at the clock, it said 7:57 am. She mumbled with toothpaste dripping down her chin, "Well, aren't you going to wait for him outside?"

Long smiled a crescent grin and told her mother, "Mom, did you read what this letter says? It says I can bring a cat with me!"

Her mother walked to the kitchen sink and spat at the foamy liquid.  
She washed up while Long was folding the list back in the envelop and slipping it into her bag. She scooped the bag up from the sofa and put it over her back. Her mother came back out and asked in her usual happy tone, "So, you want a cat now?"

"Yes! Can I get that little black one at the pet hotel?"

Long's father came out in his uniform, he was a bell boy. "Shouldn't we give you a broom?" He started laughing like a maniac, running to the kitchen and getting their short beat up broom that they made from the plants the neighbours grew.

Suddenly, another voice came from the door, "Parents are reminded that first years are not allowed their own brooms. It says so on the letter."

Long went over to the door and unlocked it's many locks.  
Then she had to unlock the gate that was in front of the first door.  
Then, she had to unlock a third gate.

She ran downstairs, but saw nobody at all.

Only the old women doing their laundry and children were playing with their soccer balls.

"Up here!" Snape cried from somewhere.

She looked up and saw Snape looking down at her. His long black hair and robe blowing to the right, it made him look more occult than magic.  
She waved up, "Good Morning, Professeur!"  
She ran back up the stairs, Snape going down the stairs at the same time.

Long's family were at the door, still in their PJs, but looking more awake and better. Long's dad asked, even though he knew that the person he was asking couldn't understand, "Oi, why are you still here? Shouldn't you be flying or something?"

Snape paid no attention and waited for Long to come up the stairs. Long was tired and leaned against the wall.  
She asked in pants, "Professeur, how we get to Dragon Alley?"

Snape corrected her, "Diagon Alley. And we're going to teleport."

Long tilted her head a bit and asked in a curious tone, "What you mean by 'teleport'?"  
Snape didn't really want to explain because all he told her next was, "Just hold onto me tight and we'll get there."

Long faltered a bit, but then ran to Snape's side. "Do you have to go or get something?" he asked impatiently.

She replied, "Nope."  
She held onto the end of Snape's sleeve and waved bye to her family, "Bye, I'll be back! I love you!"

Out of the blue, Snape whipped something down to the ground and a puff of grey smoke appeared in a huge cloud.

Her family ran into the cloud, batting their arms, and looked all around for any sign.  
Nothing.  
It was as though she and Snape simply vanished in to thin air.

* * *

Long clenched down tightly on Snape's sleeve hem.

The last thing she had seen was grey smoke surrounding them like fog.

It felt like the ground was spinning at max speed.  
Long took a deep gasp of air, the sensation was like being squeezed into a small tube. She closed her legs together as tight, the feeling of this felt like something was moving down Long's body.  
Almost like when you have to go to the bathroom.

She looked up at Snape.

His expression was cold and the same.  
His long hair was twisting and hitting him in the face, he didn't even blink.

Slowly the spinning stopped and Long looked up.  
The grey smoke was starting to clear, moving down like dropping rain.

She looked all around.

They didn't even move one foot and now they were in some sort of different world.  
She felt an emotion that could be described as 'Look out, Toto. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.'

"How long did we teleport for?" she asked as she looked all around the wonderment that was Diagon Alley.

Snape smiled, that must've been the only quote she said in correct english.  
Snape looked to the right. There was a clock store, but what was different about it was that the clocks didn't just tell time, it said it aloud in a voice!  
Also, the little ornaments on the clocks were moving and acted alive, heck they were alive!

Snape said in a neutral voice, "It is 8:05. We left at 8:05."

Long laughed out loud and covered her mouth. She moved a few feet away from Snape from fear and disbelief, but mostly because she couldn't believe it,  
"You not serious! It felt so long in teleporting!"

Snape cleared his throat, "That's magic."

Diagon Alley was so alive and different, people in cloaks and pointed hats.  
Various colours of cloaks shining in the morning sunlight.  
Long was just looking up and looking at all she could see. The owls and letters were flying all over the skies. Children were looking at brooms and eating the wildest candy.

Long was laughing so much. Was this what her life was leading up to?  
She felt so happy and scared.

Snape asked her, snapping her out of her observation on Diagon Alley, "Are you done looking? We have to get you your supplies."

"Professeur, when I go to Hogwarts?" Long asked walking back to his side.

Snape looked up one moment, like he was taking a second to think, then he looked down at her and answered, "Hogwarts begins on September 1st, so you have about 1 month exactly."

"That long?"

"It might be shortened to 4 weeks."

She smiled and cheered, "Yay!"

He gave her a weird stare that just screamed out, 'Weirdo.' He fidgeted a bit in his black ensemble, "Yes...now, do you have your list with you?"

Long nodded and took the napsack off from her back.  
She set it down on the ground and opened the front flap of the bag. She began to dig down the twisting pockets for the letter. By the time she grabbed it in her bag, she was elbow deep.

She pulled it out carefully, then closed up her bag and wore it again.  
She took out the list and handed it to Snape.

She asked about the first few items on the list, "It say I need clothes. Can't I buy at home and make myself? Why must buy here?"

Snape hated that he had to explain everything.  
He seriously wasn't going to ever allow himself to be picked to pick up muggle-borns.

He simply said, "You will need it because it is made to function and protect you from what you do in classes. Also, I don't think muggle fabric is lined with unicorn hair."

"Oh, what about cat? It say I can bring one."

"You are encouraged to, for your classes. And, it is better to buy your animals here than in the muggle world."

"Why?"

"The animals here are more obedient and intelligent. Do you really think it would be wise to allow an animal who has no idea about this world stay here and cause chaos?"

"No, but-"

He interrupted her before she could argue with what he said, "Good, now let's get your animal. I would rather we get it over with first."

That took Long's mind off completely and she squealed in a high tone.

They walked through the busy street, most likely they were filled with students who were getting their supplies too.  
She was practically his shadow, but all the people were filling in the gap between them both.

She didn't want to get lost, she's watched tv in class.

All english people spoke with such an accent with 'bloody' and 'blimey'.  
What were those words about?  
She couldn't understand most of what she heard on the street now.

She reached out her hand and grabbed the back of Snape's robe. Snape turned back and looked at her.  
She looked so worried and she probably knew what kind of face she was putting on. Because her expression looked classic, the young maiden in need of assisstance with big shiny eyes.

For the first time probably, Snape couldn't say anything.  
Finally, he asked in a forced-sound, "What?"

"Don't leave me, please."

Second time she spoke in correct, though it was a fragment, english.

Long came closer and grabbed onto the hem of Snape's sleeve like before.

"Just hold on and keep your eyes on me, I won't leave you." he reassured her.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a cat shop.

Long walked in inside, trying to contain her excitement.  
The door rang as she walked inside, strangely there was no one in it, just the shopkeeper.

Snape walked in as well, but stayed near the door. "Hurry up and pick out a cat, already."  
He raised his bony hand to his nose like the entire smell of cats disgusted him.

Long looked at all the cats.

They all looked different, no 2 cats alike. You would have cats with strange markings and a silver tint.  
Even a ginger cat with a long bushy tail. Or a navy cat, that's been enchated most likely, that was a shorthair but had something like a mohhawk on it's head.

Long liked the simple things, mostly due to her life in the country.  
She did a vague look for anything that was black, which was a colour she found to be appealing. She kept walking down the aisles and finally found the one she wanted.

It was a very petit cat, a shorthair kitten. It was completely black, lying down in a tiny ball, with a short tail curled about it.  
It had a rosy pink nose that stood out so much, with glowing silver whiskers that stuck out so much it was cute.

Long tapped on the glass which was in front of it, it didn't move.  
The little black ball of fur just opened it's eyes and looked at her.

Long felt chills going down her back, the colour of the kitten's eyes was a jade-green colour.  
It was shining and sparlkling like someone cast a spell on it.

Long squealed again, however a little girl. looking around Long's age, came along unexpectedly, "Oh, this cat is all mine!"

If this was a manga instead of a fanfic, one could imagine lightening cracking in the background evilly.

The girl felt something wasn't right and looked to the left of her.  
She almost screamed, but instead brought both her hands to her mouth. Long had her head down, to give it an eerie angle. The bangs on her hair was blowing up, though there was no wind at all blowing.

The shadows over her eyes was basically a warning.

The girl backed away slowly, Long moved in menacingly. Her hair was blowing even more now, the girl asked helplessly,  
"Yes? Can I help you with something?"

Her hair suddenly broke free, slipping like eels though her hair clips and hair bands. It rose up lightening fast standing on ends like snakes.  
Long practically growled and hissed at her like a vampire, with her canines suddenly looking sharper.  
The girl didn't see that coming, she screamed and ran out.

Snape, who was at the door, was surprised to see why a witch was screaming like she saw a monster.  
He walked briskly to where he thought the source of her fright was.  
Instead of seeing something like a big nundu, there was Long fixing her hair.

"What happened here?" Snape demanded to know.

She pointed at the little sleeping cat with green half-closed eyes, "This one okay to buy?"

All of a sudden, a witch with a tall figure and a huge head of fluffy blonde hair appeared.  
She almost resembled a spoon, from her skinny body and big head. She had on make-up that made her look plastic and she wore a bright pink cloak.

"Oh, do you want this little guy?"

Long laughed, "I love him. Can I have?"

The witch tapped her finger over the top of the glass case and slowly the case blurred to disappearence.  
She picked up the kitten and its eyes snapped open.

It started hissing and clawing at the woman's arm. It was like a mini-panther.  
It clawed and teared up the sleeve of the witchkeeper.  
Her sleeve was being lacerated and she was even bleeding.

Long was gasping, "It not hurt, ma'am?"

The lady put on a sales smile and said, "I've gotten used to this-ouch-little guy. He isn't really friendly."

"I no care. I like him. But...how much he cost?"

The lady peeled the scratching kitten off held him by the scruff of its neck.  
The little guy was still scratching and moving around.

"He's been around for a very long time, but I can sell him for 17 galleons."

Snape reached into his pocket and pulled out the coins to pay. He handed it to the smiling lady.  
She carefully placed it in Long's arms.  
Almost as if by magic, the cat calmed down and cozied up under Long's chin.

"Awww. So cute!" she squealed as she hugged the kitten back.

The little black bundle purred loudly.  
The lady put on a surprised face and asked, "Blimey! How did he get so friendly?"

Snape was already on his way to the door, sick of the love and cute fest, Long fast walked after Snape and turned back to answer, "Is fate!"

The lady waved bye to them both as they walked out.

She, on the other hand, looked down at her bleeding forearm and said to herself, "Bloody hell, I have to get bandages!"

* * *

Long held the kitten like a baby with one hand, while the other hand was holding onto Snape's sleeve like before.  
She asked in an innocent voice, "What you think I name him?"

He looked down at the purring fluff ball, who was giving him dirty looks, "I don't know, it's black. Call it blackie."

"Blackie?"

She nudged the kitten a little and asked, "Do you want to be called, "Blackie'?"  
The kitten stopped purring, apperently it could understand Vietnamese. "Professeur, kitten no like 'blackie'."

Snape looked at the kitten again and puffed, "You tamed it like a lion so, how about 'Lionel'?"

"I no like 'Lionel', how about 'Thuan'? Or 'Bao-Bao'?"

Snape was walking even faster now through the crowds, "The second name, it would be easier to remember. Now come, we need to get you your uniform."

Long nudged the little kitten again, "Want name 'Bao-Bao'?"  
The little kitten purred again and Long squealed, "Yay! You Bao-Bao now."

* * *

They stopped in front of _Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasion_ store door.

Snape opened the door for her to step through, but at the same moment, a boy stepped through the door.  
He was rushing to get out and get his parents. He was planning to convince his parents into getting him a racing broom and smuggling it in.

He bumped into Long, who was fondling the little animal and not watching who was in front of her.

It wasn't a small bump that could be excused as  
'Oh, I'm sorry'  
'It's just fine'.

No, they both fell, Long flew back, landing roughly on her back, and the boy landing on top of her.  
Poor Bao-Bao was squished between. The boy raised himself up a bit aind Long sat up, still holding Bao-Bao.

It was an awkward silence, the crowds of people walked around them, giving a large amount of space to the 3 of them.

Most of the young women were looking at the 2 adolescences in the lovey-dovey postion staring at each other with shock and surprise whispering,  
"Look, they're having a moment! I just adore love at first sight! It's so cute and kismetic!"  
How wrong they were about this case, okay maybe they weren't _all_ wrong.

Long was staring at the boy. She never saw a boy like him, all the boys she knew had dark black hair and rough callused skin.  
He was exactly the opposite.

He had a pale pointed face and his features complimented it greatly, like that interesting colour of grey he had for eyes. She noticed that he had a look of arrogance of his face.  
His hair matched his complexion, an incredible light blonde slicked back.  
Long looked down, following the long arms that were at both sides of her. His hands were white too, much nicer than her own. He must've never done a day of work in his life.

She felt her heart beating faster, he was so good-looking.

"Hello, Mr Malfoy. Getting your robes as well?" Snape asked, making Long lose her train of thought.

"Hullo, Professeur Snape." the boy greeted.

Snape looked to Long then to the boy, "Mr Malfoy, this is Ms Nguyen."

Draco moved his eyes from Snape to the witch who is was still on top of.

Snape continued on, "Good, now that you've met each other. Mr Malfoy, will you please get off her?"

Draco rushed to get up, he held out his hand to Long.  
She took his hand with her other and stumbled up because she was still holding Bao-Bao in her arms.

Their hands held a bit long than she would've expected. for a total of 5 seconds!  
She felt a tingly sensation from his cold hand.

But their first impressions were going to be completely ruined, thanks to little Bao-Bao.

Bao-Bao was exactly like his name meant in Long's language. His name meant protection and he was definitely going to protect his new mistress from strange boys.  
Also, he never liked to say it, but he did have a little jealousy problem that started when he was just born and he was the 9th born.  
Not very much attention from his mother there. And he wasn't going to make the same mistake in letting a boy be around her.

Immediately as soon as Draco helped Long up, Bao-Bao jumped from Long's arm and went for Draco's hand. He bit down hard and started clawing at it with his back legs while his front paws were sinking into Draco's forearm.

Draco jumped back, shaking the biting cat around on his arm.

Long may have been a bit smitten with Draco, but she wasn't going to let poor Bao-Bao get hurt.  
Snape was already trying to charm the little cat, but something wasn't working.  
Every spell he was shouting had no effect.  
That was weird, it never happened.  
There was something not right about this little cat.

Long was already taking a hands on approach.

She grabbed onto his arm with Bao-Bao hanging off it and tried to hold it still. "Please! Be still or you hurt Bao-Bao!"

He jerked out of her grip, "What the hell? Who cares about that beast! It's hurting me!!"

He whipped his arm down and Bao-Bao fell to the ground with a thud and a sharp cry.

Long screamed out loud at what might happen to the pet that she just got. "Bao-Bao!! Are you okay?! Please!! Be okay!!"

She started crying and picked up the limp creature in her arms.  
She hugged it closely, it gave a pitiful mew.

Everybody on the street was staring, while Draco was giving looks to everybody who was stopping to see what was the commotion and they would leave.

Long stood up and gave one of the coldest looks she could muster at Draco.  
Snape tried holding her back by placing his hands on her shoulders, but she walked towards Draco.

Draco stood his ground.

"It's alive, isn't it? What are you so angry about?" he asked in such a mean voice.

Long took a deep breath;  
"You...you...you lousy, no good, snake in the grass, barely worth to call yourself a eunch! Wimpy neanderthal born of a feminine sop wuss! You have no soul, or integrity! You ugly hateful person! You unintelligent, nitwitted, unthinking, slow, dumb, obtuse, dense, doltish yokel.  
You bitter, vicious, vile, offensive, obnoxious, nasty, loathesome, abhorrent imbecile!!..."

Soon in the midst of her cursing, she started swearing in Vietnamese, which sounded like gibberish. Obviously, she forgot some words in her midst of yelling and felt it was easier to talk in Vietnamese.

Draco tried to fit in a word to argue back, but he was befuddled. From her last plea, he learnt that her english sucked bad. However now she was yelling at him in some of the best english he only heard from his parents. Some of the words, he couldn't understand, but he still knew what it meant.  
You evil stupid jerk.

Snape, on the other hand, was laughing mentally at the irony.

Long rarely spoke in correct fluent english.  
Now here, she was speaking with a deep vocabulary that he couldn't himself believe, but it was to curse and swear at a person.

During her little spaz-fest, Draco's parents were watching in shock to see what was the big commotion. Some chinese girl carrying a limp cat while apperently cursing in anger at their son.  
A smooth voice broke through the screeching, "Draco, what is going on here?"

Long stopped and looked at the source of the voice. The voice came from a man who resembled Draco.  
He had thinning hair at the top of his head and the same eyes. He was wearing a dark coloured robe of different assortments.  
Long spoke out now, she didn't care how her english would sound, "Sorry, sir. But your son..._Draco,_ I believe_._ He tossed my poor cat onto the ground."

She held up the limp little kitten. The kitten mewed helplessly, as it tried to scratch at Draco's face who was right in front of him.  
However it looked like Bao-Bao was waving instead of trying to claw.

Draco was still rubbing over his arm where Bao-Bao attacked him. "But father, that thing-"

Draco was interrupted by his father, "Draco, you should _apologize_."

Draco sighed and said unenthusiastically, "I'm sorry."

Long was still for a few seconds, but then held out her cat again, "Is Bao-Bao, you say sorry to."

Draco looked confused for a moment, but had to give in, "I'm _sorry." _

Bao-Bao was still limp in her arms, then she brought him closer to her and huffed out a bit.  
Draco turned to his parents, Long could hear him mumbling, "I want to go see the brooms."

Draco's parents followed after him.

Snape straightened his neck a bit, "Now, we should get your robes."

Long was still trying to keep her eye on that Malfoy boy as he disappeared through the busy street as she walked into the shop with Snape.

Too bad he was such a stinker.

* * *

**Wow, what** **I did was take out a huge part in this chapter, and it's still alot. **

**Anyway, please give me your toughest critique so I can fix it up to make it better.  
I really want this version to work out. **

**Please review and read the next chapter.**


	3. Wands, Robes, and Harry Potter

**Ngoc Chau does not own Harry Potter**

**Okay, what I did a few minutes ago before writing this was really stupid. I accidently deleted chapter 3 and I wrote like more than 1 000 words for it. Close to 2 000. What an idiot I am. **

**Anyway, here it is. **

* * *

Long followed Snape into the shop.

Snape was already heading to a witch in mauve, Long assumed that must've been Madam Malkin. Long fast walked to his side.

She was measuring a boy on a stool, when she noticed that Snape was behind her,  
"Ah, Mr Snape. Long time no see. It must've been years since I saw you in here! What do you need now?"

Snape cleared his throat, "I need to get her some robes for school-"

Long noticed something about Snape while he was talking to Madame Malkin, he wasn't looking her straight in the eye, instead he was watching the boy who was being measured. The boy didn't seem to notice because he was looking out at a window.  
Long couldn't help but stare at the second boy she met. She didn't really see most boys around her age here. Most of them looked very young or much too old.

He was like Draco, except more thin.  
So thin, it looked almost pathetic. He looked very small too, with the large robe over his tiny frame. He had messy black hair that was everywhere and covered most of the round taped-up glasses he wore.  
But what was the most appealing besides his face, were his eyes.

From her limited view and his pose of face, she could still see a lot of them. They were much better than Draco's tired shade. His green eyes were so alive, so bright, and brilliant.  
She couldn't help but imagine spirals in them, which led her to another noticable feature of his.

Under that mess of hair, she could see clearly a thin red scar.

It was jagged and looked like a lightening bolt.

Then, she felt something at her side, almost like the feeling when Snape came to her home.  
She looked to her left, Snape wasn't there anymore and Madame Malkin had disappeared somewhere.

She saw that he was already at the door and she ran to him, Bao-Bao bouncing in her arms.  
"Proffeseur! Where you going?"

"Ms Nguyen, I thought I told you that I was going."

"I sorry, but I no hear."

Snape looked frustrated, "Well, I am going to get you your books so we can save some time and get you back home quickly."  
He opened the door and then continued on, "Stay here and wait till I get back."

Long grabbed onto his shirt with her one hand that wasn't supproting Bao-Bao, "You no forget me here? You will come back?"

"I won't forget you. I will come back."

She put her foot at the door to keep it open and held out her pinky to him, "Pinky promise?"

All of a sudden, Madame Malkin came behind her, holding a bundle of black, "Oh, you're still here? I thought you would've been out the door now."  
She saw out of curiosity that Long was holding her pinky out to Snape,  
"What's that? Are you doing a pinky promise?"

Snape didn't do anything.

He was at a dilemma of whether or not to fall to childishness of doing a...shudder...pinky promise.

What was even more, Madam Malkin was giving him a look with a turn of her eyebrows that shouted, 'Just do it, I won't laugh...much.'

He was just going to say that he promises again, but it was changed apprently by Long.

"Please pinky promise, proffeseur."  
(Wow, try saying that 5 times fast)

Gods, why did she have to make her eyes so wide and watery. Snape never could take crying girls well.  
He hesitantly held out his pinky and locked it with hers. Long let go almost immediately as soon as he touched her, "Okay, bye proffeseur! Come back soon!"

Madame Malkin was guffawing under her breath and jumping up and down slightly trying not to laugh at the always serious Snape complying with a little girl's habit of promise.

He turned away with his head down and his hair covering his face.

Long saw that he looked very out of place in his black clothing compared to all the bright and/or shining colours that the other magic people were wearing. She suddenly felt someone nudge her shouder,

"Come sweetie. Let's get you fitted now. Mr Snape may seem mature but he's as grown up as a child when it comes to waiting. C'mon."

She placed her hand on Long's back and led her to the back of the shop where they were doing measurements.  
"Up on the bench and take off your bag, okay?"

Long held her kitty with one hand as she manuevered to slip out of one of its straps, then she did the same for the other side. She slid the bag to the side of the bench and stood up on the bench. She turned around to look at madam Malkin instead of the window.

She was about to hand Long the robe,  
"Ummm... Sweetie? Do you think you can put the little bugger down?" she pointed at Bao-Bao who was lounging in Long's arms.

Malkin was going to take Bao-Bao out of Long's arms when Bao-Bao turned into a ferocious panther. He dug his claws onto his owner but not too much to hurt her, in fact Long was laughing, it must've tickled.  
With one paw on her and one scratching at the hands that were about to remove him.

He hissed viciously, both the boy on the bench and the witch who was fitting him looked to see what would happen next.

Bao-Bao glared at the stout witch, Long sighed, "I sorry, but can he stay?"

Malkin knew this cat was stubborn, "Oh, alright. Just as long as the little bloke doesn't get in the way."

"He won't, I know surely!"  
Bao-Bao somehow seemed to be smiling a cheshire grin.

Malkin was about to hand the robe to Long again, she hesitated as though a thought had just struck her. She draped the robe over one arm and fingered the puffed ball sleeve that Bao-Bao wasn't on.  
The sleeve felt very thick, but it must've been to hold itt's shape.

"Uhhh...Sweetit? Do you think you can take off your shirt? it might mess up the fitting."

The entire room was silent then, the only sound was the boy that was on the stool next to her clearing his throat nervously and Bao-Bao growling softly. Then it was all broken by an

"Okay then."

Long started to undo all 25 buttons and clips.

After a period of 5 minutes, she had just been able to get the clips at the bottem done.  
Finally after another 10 minutes, she was able to finish maneuvering all the buttons and clips.

If you noticed very closely, you would see everyone's eyes, including Bao-Bao's, look at Long.

To everyone's relief, she wore a modest black tanktop that was sleeveless, but covered up all the way to the base of her neck. She slowly pulled the first top off one shoulder, as if by cue, Bao-Bao moved to the other bare shoulder as she took off the top completely.

She dropped it on her bag that was up against the stool. Malkin slowly gave the robe to Long, like she was unsure if she really should. Long raised her arms over her head and Bao-Bao craled behind her braid and neck.

The robe slid down her arm from it's crumpled for, when she lowered her arms the main opening slipped down and the ends of the robe ruffled to a large mess. The robe was a lot longer than she thought.  
But, there was a huge bump on her shoulders. The little bump moved slowly and crawled out the opening, settling back onto his original spot.

"Blimey! That's one smart bugger!" Malkin exclaimed, it was true. For a kitten, Bao-Bao certainly seemed smarter than average cats his age and breed.  
"Okay, sweetie. Wait here so I can get the pins and measuring tape."

Long nodded.

Little Bao-Bao suddenly started rubbing up against her cheeks and purring.  
Long squealed lovingly, "Aww.. You're too cute, Bao-Bao!"

The boy was secretly looking at the girl.

She was something...just different.

But the boy shuddered and stiffened from 2 things.

One, while he was looking at her. The sweetness and innocence that she had displayed to the cold-looking teacher that was with her and to her little kitten, was just something he couldn't tear his eyes away, he had only seen something like that on tv or plays, never real life.  
He saw that she was almost perfect, but nobody could be perfect, so he felt that he was only watching her to see if she would reveal a flaw that would balance out her niceness.

It was while he was watching her, that he noticed the little cat on her shoulder was watching at him as well. There was a sort of scowl on the kitten's face, one that he knew all too well from his foster family.  
It was as though the 2 males had a transition with each other. Like they were reading each others' minds.

He felt like the little cat on her shoulder was cursing at him.

He shuddered a bit, but accidently backed into a pin that was held at a good distance. He yelped a bit from the shock and instant pain. The witch that was measuring him stopped and asked carefully,  
"Are you okay, Mr Potter?" The boy nodded.

Long looked at him, so his name was Potter.

Then Malkin came with a measuring tape around her neck and pins in pin cushions in each hand.  
"I'm back, sweetie! Sorry it took me so long, but these blasted needles just kept hiding from me!"

Long snapped her head to the woman who was scurrying around her knees already pinning up the robe and measuring. Long still held her eyes on the boy that was right next to her, so did he, although it was much harder for her to look at him.

Not because she was shy, heavens it was some day when she would be too shy to look at someone straight in the eye, no it was because jealous Bao-Bao kept tickling her nose with his tail.  
It was quite a funny sight, like she had a long furry mustache.

She smiled at him, a sort of smile like how something so ignorant of sin could look at something so plain and think of it so grand,  
"Hi! My name Long Nguyen! What yours?"

She held out her hand to him. He looked hesitantly and then shook it firmly.  
The boy was taken back a bit.

"Harry Potter." he answered quietly.

He knew what was probably going to happen next. Luckily after he had told the ladies at the shop his name because they needed to embroid it on his robes, they just gasped and shook his hand like he was the Prime Minister. But this girl would gasp and ask all these ridiculous questions that he couldn't possibly answer. Acting like she was a huge fan of his.

No, this time it was different. As soon as he finished answering her question, he held his breath.

"Harry Potter?" she giggled a bit, "That sound like really cool name!"

He exhaled in surprise. "You've never heard of me before?"

"I sorry, but no."

She continued on, trying to be friendly, "Are you going to school?"

"Oh, yes."

"Hogwarts?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You know what it like there?"

"No, before I've never even heard about it."

They were quiet, perhaps Long had ran out of questions, since most of them were about Hogwarts and Snape could easily answer them all. Luckily, to get the fanfic moving, Harry spoke out,  
"Your cat seems to like you. Is it always like that?"

"I no think so. I got him a while ago at a cat store. Lady there say he not very friendly, but he is."

Harry couldn't help but laugh a bit from her thick accent and her grammer mistakes, also when he saw the cat's ears perk up from her compliment.

As though Long knew what he was thinking she said, "Sorry, my english no good. Just enough for people understand what I say."  
Long sighed a bit as Malkin raised her arm out to measure, "Sometime, it make me embarrass to speak to people."

"Don't worry about it, your english is good. In fact, it's kinda cute to hear you speak."

Long froze in surprise, she tried to recall what meaning cute was. The 2 witches that were sewing started to laugh and smile at one another. She blushed at what he told her,  
"Thank you, but it not cute how I speak."

Harry, being the gentleman that he was, felt he had to argue back. He knew when a girl put herself down like that, it was always best to tell her the opposite of what she was telling herself.

"It_ is_ cute, you shouldn't put yourself down like that!"

Long smiled at him. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that they were in a shop with 2 witches who probably had moter mouths. Then, it was as though Harry shrunk a bit from sheer embarrassment.  
Long tilted her head at him and she reached out her left hand.

With one finger she touched the scar on his forehead so gently, it was like she thought that just by touching him, she could see all she wanted about him.

"Scar...Is scar, no?"

Harry snapped a little bit from the unexpected touch.  
"Oh, yes, that's a scar."  
He gently held her hand and removed it from his forehead, there was a sort of hurt look on his face.

"I sorry, it hurt where I touch?"

He still held her hand a bit, feeling comfortable with the contact of skin, "No it doesn't hurt, but.."  
He never had a chance to finish. One, he heard the 2 witches who were sewing snicker, which initiated the thought to let go of her hand and the same reason as before. Bao-Bao, who was watching jealously from her shoulder, started to hiss and climb on her arm down to his hand.

He jumped quickly to not hurt his mistress and landed on Harry's forearm.

Everybody, excluding Long, jumped back from the surprise. Again, Bao-Bao dug his claws into Harry's arm and started to bite sharply. Long knew what was going to happen, she jumped off the stool, nearing tripping on her bag.

"Please stay still, or you hurt him!!" she cried out in worry for the 2 of them, mostly to Bao-Bao.

To her surprise, Harry stayed stiff, just petting Bao-Bao trying to calm him. The witches stepped towards the scene in front of them trying to help.

"No, get back or you get hurt!" Long warned them.  
She went to Harry and petted Bao-Bao, their hands bumping each other. Slowly Bao-Bao calmed down and let go, then Long grabbed him and put him right back on her shoulder.

Harry slowly pulled his arm back to himself and quickly clutched it close to him.

"Harry, you bleeding!"

The sleeve of the robe that he was wearing was torn to nothing but shreds and his arm was bleeding. Malkin rushed to Harry's side and looked at the bloody mess. "Dear me," she snapped her fingers to the witch who was measuring Harry, "Mabel, go and get me my wand!"  
The young witch rushed to the front desk and grabbed from the top shelf a wand. She ran back to Malkin and dropped the wand daintly in her hand.

Malkin held onto Harry's hand and gave it a tap at the center with her wand. Immediately, the shreds of fabric came together, what couldn't be attached, the strips stretched themselves out to cover.  
"Needn't worry about the blood dear, just leave it for a few hours and it'll already be half way healed."

Long held onto Bao-Bao tight.  
"I so sorry. I guess Bao-Bao no like people."

Harry smiled a nervous smile, "Worse things have happened to me."

Then they door rang as somebody stepped in. He came into view, it was Snape. In his arms was a huge pile of books that were about 2 inches thick and looked heavy. Apperently he had also gone ahead and bought her a black cauldren,  
a set glass,  
a telescope,  
and brass scales. All were stocked tight in the cauldren and he held onto it firmly with his other hand.

He looked all around all around and said with a tone that scared everybody, including Long for once;

"Not done yet, I see."

* * *

Right after a rush job sewing, they were able to leave the shop quickly. Long went out first with Snape at her side and Harry stayed behind waving from the door to Long.

Snape was still carrying the load of books, while Long was already stuffing her bag with as much as she could. Her red top looked messy from the rush of putting it on and getting out of the shop, lest she be bombarded with more of Snape's impatient glares.  
The cauldren was dangling from around her wrist and her bag was close to ripping from all those books.

Little Bao-Bao walked at her feet.

When it came to the 5th book to be put in, she couldn't put it in anymore. Snape saw that she was struggling with the ordeal of putting book away. He walked faster than her and she tried to run after him.  
He stepped into another shop called, "_Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 bc. _

Snape held the door open for her as she stepped in.  
She looked so pitiful with everything just hanging out.  
He cleared his throat and ordered her, "Give me your bag."

She dropped down to her knees and shakily handed him her open bag.

Little Bao-Bao started rubbing up against her back.

She looked back up from Bao-Bao to Snape. He fipped it upside down and everything spilled out. Long's mouth gaped open as all the books clattered in front of her.  
Then, he slid out his wand from his sleeve and tapped it.

He dropped it on her lap and told her, "You should be able to put all your books in."

She nodded and started to put it all the books that fell out one by one.  
There was still some room!  
He handed her each book after and there was still some room.

An ingenius idea sprung in her head.

She took the cauldren and carefully placed it inside.  
There was still more room!!  
She zipped up the bag and prepared to carry 50 pounds of books and stuff, but the bag felt like she was empty!!

"Why my bag no heavy?" she asked as she stood up looking at the bag behind her.

Snaped answered with a clear answer, "It's an undetectable extension charm. Now, your bag is like a bottomless pit."

Long smiled and looked around the new shop.

There were boxes everywhere, but nobody seemed to be around. Snape stood still, watching Long to see what she would try and do next. She walked to the center of the room and walked in a circle, looking down the large halls for anybody.  
Her little pet following behind.

Finally, she thought that maybe the owner shrunk himself and was trapped in his own desk.  
It wouldn't be hard to believe, if you were to see what kind of stuff they talked about in this world.  
She was right, well mostly right.

He was behind his desk.

He sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, his white fluffy hair and shocking eyes made him look insane. She shrieked a bit, stumbling back on her tush. Bao-Bao scurrying around like a rat.  
Snape walked over and held the strap of her bag, picking her up like a ragdoll.

"Oh, Mr Snape, what are you doing in my shop today?"

"I am on Hogwarts business. Ms Nguyen, here, needs a wand."

"A wand now?" he walked like a ghost from behind his desk to her. His voice was high and his pace was fast.  
God, how that man spoke so fast, almost too fast for Long to follow.

"Do you know what kind you would like, Miss? We have holly and phoenix feather.  
Maple and phoenix feather.  
Ebony and unicorn hair.  
Beechwood and dragon heartstring..."

Long stayed quiet and just stared at the man as he was whipping though boxes pulling out different assortments of wands.

"Hard to choose, isn't it. I don't blame you. However, it's not the person who chooses the wand, but the wand itself."

Long stayed motionless again,  
"I sorry, but for entire time, I no understand you."

Ollivander was still and quiet, then he started laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll slow down a bit."  
He continued laughing as he went to a large shelf and pulled out some of the boxes.

Long followed after him a bit, looking at what could be in there.  
"Thank you, my english no is good."

He laughed again and set the many boxes on his desk.

"Well, it sounds like your english is getting better." he opened the box and pulled out a wand. "Here's a wand for you to try. 16 inches, Ebony and dragon heartstring, it seems to match someone like you."

He handed it to her and she looked at it carefully.

The wand was long and thin, also a dark black colour.  
She felt tingly at the touch of it, like she was supposed to have this in her very grip.

Snape came up silently behind her and grabbed her shoulder, "Give it a wave."

Long looked at one of the window.  
It's door was open, she narrowed her eyes at it, and flicked her wrist at it.  
The window door shut closed.

Ollivander smiled, "That seems to work well, did you meant for that to happen?"

Long smiled and nodded.

She turned to the door and thought she could try to open it.  
She flicked her wand behind her, turning on her heel back, and the bell rang from the invisable force. She motioned the tip of the wand towards herself, and the door looked like it was shaking.  
The bell was ringing violently.

Both men had their eyes at what this girl was attempting to do.  
Ollivander walked to the door and clicked the handle "You have to hold the handle to open it."

Slowly, the door opened, Long smiled at the accomplishment she was able to do. Then she stopped her concentration, having the door slam shut as someone would've in anger.

"Tee-hee-hee! I did it!" she jumped up and down while clapping in joy.

Ollivander walked towards her and clapped with her, "Bravo!"

Long walked to Snape and asked him sweetly, "Professeur, can I get black wand?"

Snape nodded and went to the desk, pulling out some gold coins.  
"How much for this wand?" he asked.

"Just 5 Galleons." was the reply.

He paid how much he had to, and waited at the door.

Ollivander walked behind the desk, collecting the money and putting it in his pocket.  
He picked up the box that the wand was in and asked, "Would you like me to wrap it up?"

Long turned from the desk to the door, "Professeur, can I hold wand?"

"Do whatever you want. I need to get you back to your family before I can get back to Hogwarts."

Long ran to the door, with Ollivander holding the box like an idiot, and out.

Even though Snape had wanted to get her back quick, fat chance of that happening. She convinced and dragged him off into seeing all the other shops in Diagon Alley. Like the candy shops, toy shops, new age attractions.

They saw it all, actually most of them.

* * *

They transported back to Long's home, Bao-Bao just hanging out of her bag.

She turned to say good-bye to Snape, but before she could say anything he was already gone.

She walked up the stairs to her apartment room. The new witchling reached into her pocket and pulled out the numerous keys that she needed to get into her home, with her thin wand tucked between the hair band and ribbon that she was wearing.

Long walked grudgingly into the living room.

She checked the clock right at the wall, only 9 am?!

She was sure that she was in that world with Snape for 2 hours top!!  
That would've meant that her family just left a few minutes ago!!  
And that english class was starting in 10 minutes!!

She looked behind to Bao-Bao, "Bao-Bao, I have to go to school now! If I bring you along, do you think you can behave?"

A mew replied back.

"Good, now we.." she looked at the clock in haste as she was rushing all around the apartment picking up books, binders, and whatnot, "..we only have 8 minutes!!"

She turned to her bag over and carefully put her school stuff in the enchanted bag, not to put anything on Bao-Bao, who was hanging over the edge. She put her bag back and set out for the door.

In the midst of running out the door and locking, Bao-Bao crawled out of the bag and hooked his claws into the fabric of her top.

"Hold on, Bao-Bao!!" she screamed to her furry companion as she ran through all of the shortcuts in the neighborhood.

Luckily Bao-Bao had sharp claws and the space between her band and ribbon was too tight for the wand to slip out as she sprinted out.

No worries there unless someone asked.

* * *

**Do you think you the next chapter should have all this questioning at her english school or just skip to when she's getting ready to go to Hogwarts?  
Please tell me.**

**Please review.**

**Oh, you guys are so great for reading!!**


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